BJP lawmaker Nishikant Dubey revived an old political controversy on Monday by launching a scathing attack against the Congress party, specifically focusing on the leadership of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi at the time of the signing of the Simla Agreement.
On an X post, Dubey blamed the government of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi for giving in to American pressure while signing the historic agreement with Pakistan. He also mocked the erstwhile PM, sometimes called the "Iron Lady," and asked three rhetorical questions that questioned the strategic wisdom of the Iron Lady.
"Why did the Iron Lady concede 5000 square miles of Indian-occupied territory to Pakistan?" he asked.
Going on in his rant, Dubey asked another question: "Under whose pressure did we abandon our 30,000 square miles of land to Pakistan?"
He then asked how Indian prisoners of war were handled: "Instead of repatriating 93,000 soldiers, why did 56 Indian soldiers perish in the Pakistani prison?"
To further underscore his point, Dubey presented excerpts of Rajya Sabha debates, indicating that some of the questions most raised at the time—by then Defence Minister Mahavir Tyagi and Jan Sangh leader Bhai Mahavir—remained unaddressed by the government at the time, including then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Foreign Minister Swaran Singh.
Dubey went on to accuse Congress of distorting history in order to give the impression that the government is weak, while refusing to confront its own faults and episodes of international subservience.
The Simla Agreement of July 1972, signed by Indira Gandhi and Pakistani President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was the culmination of the decisive 1971 war which resulted in the birth of Bangladesh. It was a major diplomatic agreement that formally brought to a close hostilities and bound both countries to settle any future conflicts through bilateral discussions and peaceful methods.
The treaty has since been a pillar of Indian foreign policy in its dealings with Pakistan, focusing on mutual respect, sovereignty, and non-interference.
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